Garages and attics seem to offer the finest in hotel accommodations for unwanted pests during the winter months. The garage offers easy access; and the attic, if accessible to pests, provides many hiding places, insulation, paper and clothing to use as nesting materials.
Since most of these unwanted guests are active at night, here are some clues to help you identify these pests
- Raccoons – Very vocal with chirps, growls and chittering.
- Opossums – Lots of heavy movement few vocal sounds.
- Rats and Mice – Scratching and rustling noises, sounds of light running.
- Squirrels – Scratching, running sounds. They will also store food.
- Birds – Most often under and overhang roof, but may move into attic if there is an opening.
Probably the most common invaders to Houston homes are mice and rats.
Signs You Have Mice or Rats
When homes are infested with mice, humans will often find chewed up wires, books, papers and insulation around their home. Mice aren’t eating these items, they are chewing them into pieces that they can use to make their nests. This is because mice nests are made from whatever the female mouse can find. They tend to eat many times per day so they will locate their nests near food sources. Tip: If you keep dog food in your garage make sure it is in a metal container. They can and will chew right through plastic storage bins.
At around four to seven weeks old, a female mouse will mate and have young. She will carry her young for 19 to 21 days and give birth to four to a dozen babies. Mice can have a new litter of babies every three weeks.
Think about it…if you do nothing in a year’s time you may well have over 2,000 mice in you home! YIKES.
Rats are also able to multiply quickly. A rat matures sexually at age three to four months. A female rat can mate as many as 500 times with various males during a six-hour period of receptivity—a state she experiences about 15 times per year. Thus a pair of brown rats can produce as many as 2,000 descendants in a year if left to breed unchecked. An average rat’s life span is two to three years.
Rats can train their young to avoid traps and baits; so different methods may be used by your pest control company to eradicate them. Tip: A rat can tread water for three days and survive being flushed down the toilet. (And it can return to the building via the same route.)
Rodent Removal Houston
A Houston pest control professional is your best bet to help with these winter invaders. Cypress Creek Pest Control offers a variety of solutions depending on the situation and type of animal that you are having a problem with. Our trained technicians can handle all types of rodent and wildlife issues –anything from live animal trapping to excluding and removal of rodents.
